San Jose: Council delays vote on cannabis club restrictions

SAN JOSE -- After hours of listening to reports and scores of public speakers both for and against a proposal to stiffen regulation of cannabis dispensaries, city leaders late Tuesday opted to put off a vote until next week.

City Council members said that given the amount of information that needs to be digested -- a majority of them submitted additions to the agenda item in the past few days -- they would rather give staff more time to come back with answers, then go over the various proposed amendments before a vote at a May 20 daytime session.

The new law is similar to one presented in 2011 that was ditched after cannabis groups collected enough signatures to place their own referendum on the ballot.

However, with the looming election and candidates' emphasis on public safety concerns -- eight council members are trying to get elected next month, including five vying for mayor -- marijuana proponents said before the meeting that it was unlikely that officials would back away this year even though they've got three initiatives in the works.

"I think it will pass, but they will end up regretting what they do," said Dave Hodges, founder of the All American Cannabis Club. "This will have a direct impact on public safety in a very negative way."

While medical marijuana proponents made a strong showing at the crowded council chamber on Tuesday, they were outnumbered by speakers urging the adoption of the ordinance -- many of them business owners who say they have been hurt by neighboring collectives.

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They told tales of club clientele speeding through the parking lot, throwing fast food wrappers and alcohol containers on the ground, smoking the product on site and urinating on cars and in doorways, as well as a pervasive smell that drives customers away, particularly those with kids.

Dispensary proponents said those are the bad eggs -- a properly run venue won't allow that sort of unneighborly conduct. And a host of patients were on hand to tell the council how medical marijuana has been a godsend for what ails them, providing relief when nothing else has worked.

The new slate of rules includes distance regulations: Dispensaries must be at least 1,000 feet away from schools, day care centers, churches, recreation centers, parks, libraries and other collectives; 500 feet from rehab centers and 150 feet from homes.

Additional requirements do not allow collectives to work together to expand product lines, prohibit concentrated cannabis and mandate that all product must be grown by the dispensary at a site within San Jose.

Hodges said that, more than the distance ban, those rules could mean the end for dispensaries within city limits.

"If anyone could even operate under the new model, it would take six months to a year to get it going," he said.

Hodges said that because everything would have to be homegrown facilities﻿ would have to expand their cultivating operations, which would be more likely to attract the attention of federal eyes.

The staff report said the increased restrictions were intended to address concerns listed by the U.S. Justice Department. Mayor Chuck Reed sent out a memo with two major federal concerns: Keeping cannabis out of the hands of children and preventing dispensaries from operating in cahoots with drug cartels and gangs.

But Hodges said that plan is going to backfire.

"There will be an instant increase in black-market activity," he said, such as neighborhood grow houses and backyard butane production of hash oil.

Hodges said the lack of controls in San Jose has resulted in a "wild west" atmosphere that causes problems and upsets neighbors.

"We have collectives that are causing major issues," he said, adding that the solution is to create a city cannabis commission -- the key goal of the various initiatives that have been put forward by proponents. "Things have been so out of control in San Jose the last few years."